Mesmerizing Meteora (Greece)

Greece is a beautiful country and for those who enjoy the outdoors but still want to visit historical places with daedal architecture, The Meteora is a place that should be in your bucket list, definitely not to be missed.

The Meteora is an extraordinary rock formation in central Greece and is home to one of the largest and most precariously built pieces of architecture of Eastern Orthodox monasteries. These last six of the original 24 monasteries has stood the test of time and are kept in near pristine conditions by the monks and nuns that still reside in them. These six wonders are built on massive natural pillars and enormous rounded boulders – which mimic small hills – that dominate the local region. It is located near the quaint, quiet town of Kalambaka.

Meteora is also a part of the UNESCO World Heritage List.

We traveled to Meteora by car as getting there by public transport is a feat in itself. Being one that does not like wasting hours spent on a bus with stops that are too many to count, self-driving there was the preferred choice. If buses and trains were frequent, it would be the less tiring option, but since this wasn’t the case in this area, we opted to rent a car. This allowed us to fully utilize the time we had there and allowed for more flexibility in our schedule.

It is recommended to spend more than a few days in Meteora and preferably not during the weekends as tour groups are aplenty. Weather is quite unpredictable in Meteora as well. Do take note of the opening days and hours for each monastery as it is impossible to properly visit all six monasteries in one single day. Below are 5 out of 6 of the monasteries’ operating hours & days. In my haste, I missed one. There are six monasteries that are open to visitors. We were only able to visit 5 out of the 6 monasteries and had to give the Great Meteoran, which is also the largest monastery there, a miss.